Tales of Team 4
by Kotetsu Shizune
Summary: Team 4. A team facing many challenges and a great evil. How will they do? Read to find out...
1. Kotori's and Kinuta's Backgrounds

**A/N: This chapter is in different point of views, that's why the story kind of repeats itself.**

* * *

"Good morning class." The Konoha Ninja Academy homeroom teacher said to his class of mixed students. "Today we will have a new student joining us. Please welcome her with kind attitudes. She came all the way from the Village Hidden in the Grass." The teacher said as a girl walked in awkwardly. The firetruck red hair with her bangs pulled back was her most notable features. She had green eyes, a short pink kimono with short sleeves, and black thigh highs followed by ankle high iconic sandals. "Well go on then, tell the class something about yourself." The teacher said, breaking the awkwardness in the room.

The girl with the red hair straightened herself up before speaking. "...Hi. My name is Kotori Uzumaki, and I am super powerful, and I'm up to battle anytime… and anywhere." She said, though she was confident about everything she had said, she really did not sound like it. The class erupted into laughter. Kotori furrowed her eyebrows before walking to the back of the class and taking a seat. She sat at a table with all girls, both looking plain and average. She was never told to sit back there, and personally, she regretted choosing the seat. All the girls would do is snicker, and stare at the stronger boys in the class. Though knowing that she would be living the rest of her days as a leaf ninja, she learned to grow used to how loud the class was.

Kotori lives alone in the hidden leaf village and only had a few friends because her odd personality was hard to deal with to most people. She has graduated the ninja academy and was now a Genin. Her team consisted of some good friends of hers, Tadashi focusing on taijutsu and Kinuta ninjutsu. She liked her team and the teacher. Eventually, they became her best friends. They worked together nicely on their missions. Kotori was more of a medical ninja, with hidden powers within her not yet discovered…

* * *

"Good morning class." The Konoha Ninja Academy homeroom teacher said to the class. "Today we will have a new student joining us. Please welcome her with kind attitudes. She came all the way from the Grass Village." A girl walked in awkwardly. Her firetruck red hair with her bangs pulled back was her most notable features. She had green eyes.  
Kinuta Hozuki, a tall, water style ninja with brown-red hair who was sitting in one of the front rows with his feet propped up on the table, raised an eyebrow at the new student. Grass Village, huh? He thought to himself. Kinuta was also a transfer from another village, the Village Hidden in the Water. The difference between the two students, Kinuta was transferred at a much younger age. The transfer student had sure peaked Kinuta's interest, causing him to actually listen in class for once.  
"...Hi. My name is Kotori Uzumaki, and I am super powerful, and I'm up to battle anytime… and anywhere." The girl said, though she was confident about everything she had said, she really did not sound like it, earning a chuckle and a laugh from the class. This even got Kinuta to smile a bit. Kotori walked to the back of the class and sat next to the "basic" girls.  
Kinuta scoffed. Another one of those girls. He thought going back to looking down at his dark blue vest and black athletic pants, not paying attention.  
Kinuta lived with his mentor, Mikoto Hyuga, in the Leaf Village. His only friends consist of his teammates Kotori, Mikoto, and a strange boy named Tadashi Yoichi. Kinuta is now a Genin, trying to become a Chunin. He and his team work well on their missions, but little did they know a growing evil was among them…

* * *

 **Kinuta, Kotori, Mikoto, and Tadashi all belong to Kotetsu Shizune. You can write, draw or otherwise use these characters when and ONLY when you get my permission.**  
 **Naruto and the Naruto universe belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and** I **, Kotetsu Shizune, am not claiming it as my own.**


	2. Chunin Exams! Exam 1

The exams are taken to decide whether or not you are strong enough to move up another level. The Chunin level. Harder missions, more enemies, and splitting up from your team, going on your own missions. Top secret missions all the way to catching a missing dog. Though you could only enter as a three man team, it took a lot of time. Kotori was able to talk Kinuta into taking the exam so they could actually pass. Of course, nobody passes on their first try but there was a chance. The first exam consists of answering 10 questions, all based off of learning survival tactics. The second exam is getting a scroll from another team while being able to keep your own as well. The third exam is head to head combat, and the final is also hand to hand combat. People have died of course, and it is pretty dangerous. Despite that, everybody wanted to do it. Well, everybody that didn't want to do it was guilt-tripped into it. During the Chunin exams, everything that was going on the outside world would pause and allied nations would come together for one big exam.

This year, it was the Leaf and Sand Village together. It was taking place at the Leaf village luckily, but Kotori was way too excited to meet other people from another village. Especially the Sand Village, she loved everybody there. Kotori was more excited to meet people from the Sand village than she was the actual exam itself. Tadashi found her pretty weird for liking other people in other villages more than she liked people from her own.

—

Kotori, Kinuta, and Tadashi were all waiting around for their sensei Mikoto to show up. All 3 of them were becoming bored waiting around, and with the hot sun beating them up, they were tired.

"Let's do something. I'm tired of waiting around here." Kotori said, sitting up from her spot on the freshly trimmed grass. "Let's do something. And by let's do something, I mean we should go and fight people!" She said, sparkles in her eyes with excitement. "It's like, uh, you know, training. But against people. You get it. So I mean we wouldn't be hurting anybody because it's training?" Kotori began to ramble on - like she always does.

"I'm in, but I'm not fighting a girl," Tadashi said, straightening himself up.

"It's not fighting, it's training!" Kotori corrected him.

"What's the difference? You're fighting somebody either way." Tadashi smirked, folding his arms in front of him. Antagonizing people was an activity he was quite fond of.

"The difference is that we don't hurt each other… That much at least." Kotori corrected herself.

"Whatever." groaned Tadashi.

"I think some training would be helpful," Kinuta said after listening for awhile.

Kotori yelled with excitement, jumping up and down excitedly. All three of them headed for the training grounds to get some sparring in before the first part of the exam. Once they finally arrived at the grounds, they needed to figure out who would spar who.

"I have a plan! Whoever wins the first fight is the champion, and has to go against the other two." Kotori said, getting into a fighting stance dramatically.

"Seems Kotori really wants to go, huh?" Tadashi said to Kinuta, who just nodded.

"So who's gonna take me on?" Kotori challenged with a smirk dancing across her face. Kotori waited for a solid minute seeing that nobody was going to step up to the plate. "Well fine then, Kinuta. You fight me. A real challenge."

Kinuta just shrugged and smirked, "Alright," he simply replied standing up to the training grounds.

"Alright!" Kotori said enthusiastically, clapping her hands together. "Tadashi is the ref. First one down loses?" She suggested. Tadashi was personally offended that Kotori didn't consider him a challenge, but it also agreed with his morals of not fighting girls. In return, Tadashi nodded in agreement. Either way, he was going to end up training, so he was going to be patient with himself and his team.

Kotori was already in a fighting stance, staring down Kinuta waiting for the okay to start their friendly fight.

Tadashi took in a deep breath and stepped backward so he wouldn't be in the line of fire. "Go!"

Kotori immediately drew one of her kunai and threw it in the direction of Kinuta, jumping back and making two clones of herself. She was prepared for anything, knowing the sort of strength Kinuta possessed. Though Kinuta was the strongest on the team besides Mikoto, Kotori was still a good sparring partner because of her high stamina and healing abilities.

The kunai went right through Kinuta's body as if it were water. Kinuta's body then turned into a puddle, confusing Kotori.

"Don't be so eager," said Kinuta, behind her. As he said that, he quickly weaved hand signs together. "Water Style: Raging Waves!"

Both of Kotori's clones poofed into thin air, but Kotori herself was nowhere to be found. Instead, a log. Kotori quickly used the time to hide in a tree, making her chakra undetectable. Kotori quickly regained the small amount of chakra she had used for the substitution Jutsu and began to use some of her own ninjutsu.

Jumping out from the tree she had been collecting herself in, she looked right towards Kinuta. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Soon enough, multiple small fireballs began flying towards Kinuta in multiple angles. Even though fire style was weak against water, it still would do some damage.

Using the waves he just threw at Kotori's clones, Kinuta tries to block the fireballs with a shield of water.

While Kinuta was distracted by blocking her fire jutsu, Kotori used this time to make clones of herself, running as fast as she could to throw multiple punches. As her punches land, she hears Kinuta grunt in pain. Knowing this fight wasn't supposed to be taken seriously, Kotori stopped the attack and jumped backward defusing her clones. As the dust cleared, all Kotori saw was a puddle of water.

"Why'd you stop?" Asked the Team 4 mentor, Mikoto Hyuga, sitting on the side of the battlefield.

Kotori heard her Sensei's voice and immediately looked over towards the direction she heard him coming from. "Mikoto-sensei! I only stopped because I personally didn't want to hurt him. Yknow, it's just training. Not life and death… Yknow?"

Kinuta materialized next to Kotori. "Thanks for caring, but I was okay." He said to Kotori.

"Just don't do that during the third part of the exams, okay?" Mikoto told Kotori. "Other than that, you guys fought well. Now, it's getting late and the first part of the exams start tomorrow so you guys need to get some rest." Mikoto said to all three members of Team 4.

Kotori nodded as Tadashi joined the group, standing on the other side of Kotori with a saddened look. "But I never got the chance to fight. I want to fight, man." He said to Mikoto.

"You won't need to fight for another few days, the first part of the exams are written. We can train tomorrow after the first part." Mikoto said ruffling Tadashi's hair with his hand.

Tadashi frowned but nodded. "Deal." He said, before turning away from the group. "Well, I've got a curfew to make, so I'll see you three tomorrow."

"See ya, Tadashi," Kinuta said, walking towards Mikoto. "Goodnight, Kotori. Make it home safely, okay?" Kinuta said turning back to Kotori.

Kotori faced Kinuta and smiled. "I won't." She said with a wink. "I'll see you around. Nighty, night Kinuta."

Kinuta smirked and walked after Mikoto, who had already started to walk towards their home. Once they got there, Kinuta instantly went to his bed and fell asleep, without even changing into night clothes.

Kotori lived further away from everybody else. Not having her own home, she took her time getting home. She had stopped by multiple stores buying things such as tea and ramen. She enjoyed the nightlife of Konoha, causing herself to become a night owl. Once she had finally gotten to her home early next morning, she crashed in the comfort of her pillows and blankets.

—

Today was the first part of the written part of the exam. Not the most action packed thing, but it was still important. Team 4 met at their usual spot in the city; a Dango shop. For the exciting days to come, Mikoto was treating the 3. All of them sat around the table eating away at their multi-colored treats enjoying themselves.

Mikoto looked at all 3 of them and smiled slightly, proud of his students. "Are you guys ready for the exams?" He asked staring at them all.

Kinuta nodded and kept eating the treat Mikoto had bought him. "I just want to get them over with and become a Chunin already." He said, rolling his eyes. "I can't wait for better missions. It's pretty boring around here."

Kotori squinted and hit Kinuta on the top of the head in a sort of forceful manner. "Get excited! Don't be like that."

Kinuta growled and rolled his eyes. "Don't hit me like that. It hurts." He said, turning towards Kotori in his chair and flicking a piece of Dango at the red haired Uzumaki.

Kotori took a drink of her green tea, but before she was able to do what she planned to do, Tadashi stopped her. "Now now, let's not act like 3-year-olds, okay? I don't want to be banned from another dango shop." He said, awkwardly smiling.

"She started it," Kinuta said jokingly, smirking at Kotori.

Kotori smiled raising one of her fists. "You wanna go?" She challenged jokingly. She was almost cut off by Kinuta nearly tackling her out of her seat. Before anything could get out of hand they heard the village clock strike noon, signifying that the students need to be in class for exams.

Tadashi quickly stood up quickly and moved aside. "Thanks for the dangos Mikoto-sensei. Wish us luck." He said, Kotori and Kinuta soon following shortly behind.

All three Shinobi walk into the exam room at the same time. As they were walking, they happened to run into friends of Kotori, Team 1. Kotori smiled, "Be right back guys." She said before jogging to catch up to Aiko, one of the members. Aiko was a part of the Inuzuka clan. She had very distinctive red "fang" marks of her each cheeks. She had an odd hairstyle, one that Kotori would never attempt to do. The top was short, but under was long enough to have a braid. She dressed casually. A gray hoodie with some blue shorts. She was an inspiration to Kotori, excluding the one year age difference. "Hi, Aiko!" Kotori greeted. "Hello Jun, Hideo, and of course Saya." She continued leaning down to pet Saya, Aiko's Weimaraner.

Tadashi sighed as he watched from a short distance with Kinuta. "I don't like Aiko." He admitted. "Do you?"

"I could care less as long as she doesn't get in our way," Kinuta said dryly, pushing his hair back up onto his headband to keep it out of his eyes, all while keeping his eyes in Kotori and her friends.

Tadashi shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. She just seems like a trouble maker. Kotori hangs out with her a lot. She'll probably gain some of her qualities. It could affect our teamwork."

Kinuta just scoffed at the thought of that. "That would be what Kotori would do."

"Indeed it is. We should catch up to her though because I think we both know she won't wait up for us."

"Right," Kinuta nodded, starting to catch up with Kotori. Tadashi following behind.

Kotori was talking with Aiko about the exam until Kinuta and Tadashi caught up. "Hello again. We're talking about the exams. Aiko has given me personal information about the exams. Wanna hear?"

"Isn't that cheating?" Kinuta said. "If you get caught who knows what will happen? Also, what if it's not even true?"

"Nah. It's not answers or anything. But if it's not even like, the truth, then it'll be a real shame." She responded. "It's actually about the type of ninja participating this year. Their Jutsu and stuff. Would you consider it cheating if we knew about the people going into the exam?"

"I'm not sure…" Kinuta trailed off. After a few seconds, he just shrugged."Sure, let's hear it."

Tadashi covered his ears. "I don't wanna hear it, just in case. I have nothing to do with this." He said, walking ahead of them.

Kotori shrugged, then began to give the information that she was just told. "So the sand people are coming here, y'know? Well, one of these guys apparently has this super special genjutsu that's very violent. The female sand ninja is a weapons specialist or something and she controls them without chakra strings-" Before Kotori could continue with her sentence, Hideo interrupted by speaking up. "Hey now, don't say all this too loudly. Especially outside of the testing room." He said pointing towards the door.

Kotori chuckled nervously. "Yeah. That would be smart." She said opening the testing room door and bumping into somebody, stumbling back a bit.

"Oops sorry. Didn't see ya there…" She awkwardly said rubbing the back of her head out of instinct. Team 1 and the rest of team 4 moved around Kotori and the unknown, black haired ninja quickly out of intimidation.

"Don't say sorry, it's okay." The man replied with a kind smile. "I'm Nori. Who might you be?" He asked, a smile remaining on his face. "Kotori Uzumaki." She answered with a smile. "That's a pretty name. Probably matches your looks."

Kotori quickly lit up like a flame and grinned.

"I only said probably because I can't see." He chuckled, pointing to the wrap around his eyes.

"Oh it's okay! A compliment is a compliment. So, what village are you from?" Kotori asked curiously.

"Sunagakure. Sand Village for short."

Kotori held in her shrieking and clapped her hands together with a large grin. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

Kinuta walked up beside Kotori, looking a bit fretted. "It's almost time for the exam, we should go. Now."

Kotori nodded, getting back into her somewhat 'calm' state. "Well Nori, see you soon. Good luck on the exam." She said, holding in a chuckle from her blind joke and walked away with Kinuta to their team's spot. Tadashi soon joined them. As they were walking, Kotori noticed Kinuta seemed tense. She looked at Tadashi questioningly. Tadashi simply shrugged and kept walking. Once they reached the table Kotori quickly sat down and glanced back over to Kinuta.

"You alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine… just nervous" The brown haired Shinobi responded hesitantly, playing with a water drop on the table.

"You'll be fine." Kotori assured giving Kinuta a pat on the back as the instructor walked in.

The female instructor slammed the pile of papers in the desk to get everybody to stop talking and pay attention.

"Alright, hello! My name is Hellon and I will be your instructor for the first exam!" She yelled with a semi-evil smile. "Hope you all studied because this is gonna be a doozy! Let me explain everything before I pass these PACKETS out." She paused, quickly taking in a deep breath. "Number one! Do not ask me questions. Asking me questions automatically makes you incapable of being a strong shinobi! Number two! NO CHEATING. If you cheat you will never be able to take the Chunnin exams again. If you think you're going to be able to cheat without getting caught you are stupid. I see and hear everything." She shouted, making sure the back of the room could hear her perfectly. Also, to be a bit more scary.

"I will now pass out the tests and your pencils. You will have one hour exactly to do the exam. Good luck." Hellon said, making clones of herself to make the process of passing things out go faster.

Once everybody had gotten their tests, she started the timer. "Start!"

—

The exams are taken to decide whether or not you are strong enough to move up another level. The Chunin level. Harder missions, more enemies, and splitting up from your team, going on your own missions. Top secret missions all the way to catching a missing dog. Though you could only enter as a three man team, it took a lot of time. Kotori was able to talk Kinuta into taking the exam so they could actually pass. Of course, nobody passes on their first try but there was a chance. The first exam consists of answering 10 questions, all based off of learning survival tactics. The second exam is getting a scroll from another team while being able to keep your own as well. The third exam is head to head combat, and the final is also hand to hand combat. People have died of course, and it is pretty dangerous. Despite that, everybody wanted to do it. Well, everybody that didn't want to do it was guilt-tripped into it. During the Chunin exams, everything that was going on the outside world would pause and allied nations would come together for one big exam.

This year, it was the Leaf and Sand Village together. It was taking place at the Leaf village luckily, but Kotori was way too excited to meet other people from another village. Especially the Sand Village, she loved everybody there. Kotori was more excited to meet people from the Sand village than she was the actual exam itself. Tadashi found her pretty weird for liking other people in other villages more than she liked people from her own.

—

Kotori, Kinuta, and Tadashi were all waiting around for their sensei Mikoto to show up. All 3 of them were becoming bored waiting around, and with the hot sun beating them up, they were tired.

"Let's do something. I'm tired of waiting around here." Kotori said, sitting up from her spot on the freshly trimmed grass. "Let's do something. And by let's do something, I mean we should go and fight people!" She said, sparkles in her eyes with excitement. "It's like, uh, you know, training. But against people. You get it. So I mean we wouldn't be hurting anybody because it's training?" Kotori began to ramble on - like she always does.

"I'm in, but I'm not fighting a girl," Tadashi said, straightening himself up.

"It's not fighting, it's training!" Kotori corrected him.

"What's the difference? You're fighting somebody either way." Tadashi smirked, folding his arms in front of him. Antagonizing people was an activity he was quite fond of.

"The difference is that we don't hurt each other… That much at least." Kotori corrected herself.

"Whatever." groaned Tadashi.

"I think some training would be helpful," Kinuta said after listening for awhile.

Kotori yelled with excitement, jumping up and down excitedly. All three of them headed for the training grounds to get some sparring in before the first part of the exam. Once they finally arrived at the grounds, they needed to figure out who would spar who.

"I have a plan! Whoever wins the first fight is the champion, and has to go against the other two." Kotori said, getting into a fighting stance dramatically.

"Seems Kotori really wants to go, huh?" Tadashi said to Kinuta, who just nodded.

"So who's gonna take me on?" Kotori challenged with a smirk dancing across her face. Kotori waited for a solid minute seeing that nobody was going to step up to the plate. "Well fine then, Kinuta. You fight me. A real challenge."

Kinuta just shrugged and smirked, "Alright," he simply replied standing up to the training grounds.

"Alright!" Kotori said enthusiastically, clapping her hands together. "Tadashi is the ref. First one down loses?" She suggested. Tadashi was personally offended that Kotori didn't consider him a challenge, but it also agreed with his morals of not fighting girls. In return, Tadashi nodded in agreement. Either way, he was going to end up training, so he was going to be patient with himself and his team.

Kotori was already in a fighting stance, staring down Kinuta waiting for the okay to start their friendly fight.

Tadashi took in a deep breath and stepped backward so he wouldn't be in the line of fire. "Go!"

Kotori immediately drew one of her kunai and threw it in the direction of Kinuta, jumping back and making two clones of herself. She was prepared for anything, knowing the sort of strength Kinuta possessed. Though Kinuta was the strongest on the team besides Mikoto, Kotori was still a good sparring partner because of her high stamina and healing abilities.

The kunai went right through Kinuta's body as if it were water. Kinuta's body then turned into a puddle, confusing Kotori.

"Don't be so eager," said Kinuta, behind her. As he said that, he quickly weaved hand signs together. "Water Style: Raging Waves!"

Both of Kotori's clones poofed into thin air, but Kotori herself was nowhere to be found. Instead, a log. Kotori quickly used the time to hide in a tree, making her chakra undetectable. Kotori quickly regained the small amount of chakra she had used for the substitution Jutsu and began to use some of her own ninjutsu.

Jumping out from the tree she had been collecting herself in, she looked right towards Kinuta. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Soon enough, multiple small fireballs began flying towards Kinuta in multiple angles. Even though fire style was weak against water, it still would do some damage.

Using the waves he just threw at Kotori's clones, Kinuta tries to block the fireballs with a shield of water.

While Kinuta was distracted by blocking her fire jutsu, Kotori used this time to make clones of herself, running as fast as she could to throw multiple punches. As her punches land, she hears Kinuta grunt in pain. Knowing this fight wasn't supposed to be taken seriously, Kotori stopped the attack and jumped backward defusing her clones. As the dust cleared, all Kotori saw was a puddle of water.

"Why'd you stop?" Asked the Team 4 mentor, Mikoto Hyuga, sitting on the side of the battlefield.

Kotori heard her Sensei's voice and immediately looked over towards the direction she heard him coming from. "Mikoto-sensei! I only stopped because I personally didn't want to hurt him. Yknow, it's just training. Not life and death… Yknow?"

Kinuta materialized next to Kotori. "Thanks for caring, but I was okay." He said to Kotori.

"Just don't do that during the third part of the exams, okay?" Mikoto told Kotori. "Other than that, you guys fought well. Now, it's getting late and the first part of the exams start tomorrow so you guys need to get some rest." Mikoto said to all three members of Team 4.

Kotori nodded as Tadashi joined the group, standing on the other side of Kotori with a saddened look. "But I never got the chance to fight. I want to fight, man." He said to Mikoto.

"You won't need to fight for another few days, the first part of the exams are written. We can train tomorrow after the first part." Mikoto said ruffling Tadashi's hair with his hand.

Tadashi frowned but nodded. "Deal." He said, before turning away from the group. "Well, I've got a curfew to make, so I'll see you three tomorrow."

"See ya, Tadashi," Kinuta said, walking towards Mikoto. "Goodnight, Kotori. Make it home safely, okay?" Kinuta said turning back to Kotori.

Kotori faced Kinuta and smiled. "I won't." She said with a wink. "I'll see you around. Nighty, night Kinuta."

Kinuta smirked and walked after Mikoto, who had already started to walk towards their home. Once they got there, Kinuta instantly went to his bed and fell asleep, without even changing into night clothes.

Kotori lived further away from everybody else. Not having her own home, she took her time getting home. She had stopped by multiple stores buying things such as tea and ramen. She enjoyed the nightlife of Konoha, causing herself to become a night owl. Once she had finally gotten to her home early next morning, she crashed in the comfort of her pillows and blankets.

—

Today was the first part of the written part of the exam. Not the most action packed thing, but it was still important. Team 4 met at their usual spot in the city; a Dango shop. For the exciting days to come, Mikoto was treating the 3. All of them sat around the table eating away at their multi-colored treats enjoying themselves.

Mikoto looked at all 3 of them and smiled slightly, proud of his students. "Are you guys ready for the exams?" He asked staring at them all.

Kinuta nodded and kept eating the treat Mikoto had bought him. "I just want to get them over with and become a Chunin already." He said, rolling his eyes. "I can't wait for better missions. It's pretty boring around here."

Kotori squinted and hit Kinuta on the top of the head in a sort of forceful manner. "Get excited! Don't be like that."

Kinuta growled and rolled his eyes. "Don't hit me like that. It hurts." He said, turning towards Kotori in his chair and flicking a piece of Dango at the red haired Uzumaki.

Kotori took a drink of her green tea, but before she was able to do what she planned to do, Tadashi stopped her. "Now now, let's not act like 3-year-olds, okay? I don't want to be banned from another dango shop." He said, awkwardly smiling.

"She started it," Kinuta said jokingly, smirking at Kotori.

Kotori smiled raising one of her fists. "You wanna go?" She challenged jokingly. She was almost cut off by Kinuta nearly tackling her out of her seat. Before anything could get out of hand they heard the village clock strike noon, signifying that the students need to be in class for exams.

Tadashi quickly stood up quickly and moved aside. "Thanks for the dangos Mikoto-sensei. Wish us luck." He said, Kotori and Kinuta soon following shortly behind.

All three Shinobi walk into the exam room at the same time. As they were walking, they happened to run into friends of Kotori, Team 1. Kotori smiled, "Be right back guys." She said before jogging to catch up to Aiko, one of the members. Aiko was a part of the Inuzuka clan. She had very distinctive red "fang" marks of her each cheeks. She had an odd hairstyle, one that Kotori would never attempt to do. The top was short, but under was long enough to have a braid. She dressed casually. A gray hoodie with some blue shorts. She was an inspiration to Kotori, excluding the one year age difference. "Hi, Aiko!" Kotori greeted. "Hello Jun, Hideo, and of course Saya." She continued leaning down to pet Saya, Aiko's Weimaraner.

Tadashi sighed as he watched from a short distance with Kinuta. "I don't like Aiko." He admitted. "Do you?"

"I could care less as long as she doesn't get in our way," Kinuta said dryly, pushing his hair back up onto his headband to keep it out of his eyes, all while keeping his eyes in Kotori and her friends.

Tadashi shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. She just seems like a trouble maker. Kotori hangs out with her a lot. She'll probably gain some of her qualities. It could affect our teamwork."

Kinuta just scoffed at the thought of that. "That would be what Kotori would do."

"Indeed it is. We should catch up to her though because I think we both know she won't wait up for us."

"Right," Kinuta nodded, starting to catch up with Kotori. Tadashi following behind.

Kotori was talking with Aiko about the exam until Kinuta and Tadashi caught up. "Hello again. We're talking about the exams. Aiko has given me personal information about the exams. Wanna hear?"

"Isn't that cheating?" Kinuta said. "If you get caught who knows what will happen? Also, what if it's not even true?"

"Nah. It's not answers or anything. But if it's not even like, the truth, then it'll be a real shame." She responded. "It's actually about the type of ninja participating this year. Their Jutsu and stuff. Would you consider it cheating if we knew about the people going into the exam?"

"I'm not sure…" Kinuta trailed off. After a few seconds, he just shrugged."Sure, let's hear it."

Tadashi covered his ears. "I don't wanna hear it, just in case. I have nothing to do with this." He said, walking ahead of them.

Kotori shrugged, then began to give the information that she was just told. "So the sand people are coming here, y'know? Well, one of these guys apparently has this super special genjutsu that's very violent. The female sand ninja is a weapons specialist or something and she controls them without chakra strings-" Before Kotori could continue with her sentence, Hideo interrupted by speaking up. "Hey now, don't say all this too loudly. Especially outside of the testing room." He said pointing towards the door.

Kotori chuckled nervously. "Yeah. That would be smart." She said opening the testing room door and bumping into somebody, stumbling back a bit.

"Oops sorry. Didn't see ya there…" She awkwardly said rubbing the back of her head out of instinct. Team 1 and the rest of team 4 moved around Kotori and the unknown, black haired ninja quickly out of intimidation.

"Don't say sorry, it's okay." The man replied with a kind smile. "I'm Nori. Who might you be?" He asked, a smile remaining on his face. "Kotori Uzumaki." She answered with a smile. "That's a pretty name. Probably matches your looks."

Kotori quickly lit up like a flame and grinned.

"I only said probably because I can't see." He chuckled, pointing to the wrap around his eyes.

"Oh it's okay! A compliment is a compliment. So, what village are you from?" Kotori asked curiously.

"Sunagakure. Sand Village for short."

Kotori held in her shrieking and clapped her hands together with a large grin. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

Kinuta walked up beside Kotori, looking a bit fretted. "It's almost time for the exam, we should go. Now."

Kotori nodded, getting back into her somewhat 'calm' state. "Well Nori, see you soon. Good luck on the exam." She said, holding in a chuckle from her blind joke and walked away with Kinuta to their team's spot. Tadashi soon joined them. As they were walking, Kotori noticed Kinuta seemed tense. She looked at Tadashi questioningly. Tadashi simply shrugged and kept walking. Once they reached the table Kotori quickly sat down and glanced back over to Kinuta.

"You alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine… just nervous" The brown haired Shinobi responded hesitantly, playing with a water drop on the table.

"You'll be fine." Kotori assured giving Kinuta a pat on the back as the instructor walked in.

The female instructor slammed the pile of papers in the desk to get everybody to stop talking and pay attention.

"Alright, hello! My name is Hellon and I will be your instructor for the first exam!" She yelled with a semi-evil smile. "Hope you all studied because this is gonna be a doozy! Let me explain everything before I pass these PACKETS out." She paused, quickly taking in a deep breath. "Number one! Do not ask me questions. Asking me questions automatically makes you incapable of being a strong shinobi! Number two! NO CHEATING. If you cheat you will never be able to take the Chunnin exams again. If you think you're going to be able to cheat without getting caught you are stupid. I see and hear everything." She shouted, making sure the back of the room could hear her perfectly. Also, to be a bit more scary.

"I will now pass out the tests and your pencils. You will have one hour exactly to do the exam. Good luck." Hellon said, making clones of herself to make the process of passing things out go faster.

Once everybody had gotten their tests, she started the timer. "Start!"

—

"You all passed! Good job kiddos, now you're off to the big leagues. Have fun in the forest of death!" Hellon cheerfully said, quickly dashing out of the room leaving the rest of the students to exit themselves.

"You all passed! Good job kiddos, now you're off to the big leagues. Have fun in the forest of death!" Hellon cheerfully said, quickly dashing out of the room leaving the rest of the students to exit themselves.


	3. Chunin Exams! Exam 2

"Ramen's on me tonight, eat up!" Mikoto, the Team 4 sensei said. "You all did very well today, I am truly proud."

"Thank you Mikoto-sensei! It was all thanks to you and Sora too, for all she taught us in the academy." Kotori said happily.

Kinuta just simply nodded and stared back down at his noodles, before stuffing a large portion into his mouth. This earned a questioning look from Tadashi.

"You're totally going to choke on your food one day. I'm going to point and laugh." Tadashi warned. Kinuta just waved him off and continued to eat.

"Why are you being so silent, Kinuta?" Kotori asked, raising a single eyebrow.

"I'm just thinking about the next exam…" Kinuta trailed off.

"Care to share your thoughts to the rest of the team?" Tadashi questioned.

Kinuta remained silent in thought for a moment. "I'm just worried about who we're going to go up against… Those Sand Villagers seem like bad news." Kinuta finally said, glancing at Kotori.

"You're actually worried about the Sand ninja? One of them is blind. I honestly think we could take down a blind man. Though I really wouldn't like to fight the Sand people because they seem pretty cool." Kotori replied.

Kinuta visibly tensed. "I think that blind ninja has something up his sleeve. Also," Kinuta turned to Kotori quickly, looking her in the eyes. "The Sand Village is the enemy. Not your friends. If we come toe to toe, you will fight them, right?"

Kotori furrowed her eyebrows together. "I would fight them, but I would prefer not to. If they were going to act like the enemy, they would have had an attitude with us, or even tried to come at us."

"I'm just worried that your liking to them is going to cloud your judgement and leave Tadashi and I hanging." Kinuta mumbled, turning back to his ramen.

"If you think i'm the type of person that would leave people behind or not bring my all to the table then you really don't know me."

Kinuta stood up. "Maybe I don't know you after all…" He mumbled. "I'll see you guys at the forest." Kinuta walked away towards the forest were the Second Exam would take place.

Mikoto sighed. "You three have way too much drama going on. Definitely not how I pictured this ramen special going."

Kotori shrugged, she was used to Kinutas mood swings. "I would just let him go, I'm gonna enjoy this ramen." She said and began to eat her ramen like nothing happened. She knew she would need strength for the upcoming exam.

After Tadashi and Kotori finished their ramen and quickly headed over to the forest of death to meet up with the rest of their Genin friends. As they were walking up to the Forest of Death they could see Kinuta practicing his Liquid Bullet Justu against a tree. Seeing this, Kotori and Tadashi walked over towards him. "How's the jutsu coming along?" Tadashi asked trying to lower the tension between them all.

Kinuta turned around, frightened. There was sweat or some sort of liquid running down his face. "It's coming along well, still needs work though." Kinuta responded.

"That's nice. Keep working on it." Tadashi said. "Just remember what Mikoto-sensei said. Only use that jutsu whenever it's life or death. Or whenever protecting somebody dear to you." He continued.

"Right." Kinuta agreed sternly, walking over to join the group.

From out of nowhere the exam instructor showed up. "Listen up young boys and girls! My name Kageyama!" The instructed yelled, his deep voice reaching everybody who made it on time. "What you're looking at in front of you is the forest of death! This forest is full of deadly creatures, poisonous plants, and all of that fun stuff!" Kageyama shouted, holding up two scrolls. "These are heaven and earth scrolls! Each team of three will be given one of these scrolls! Your job consists of getting the opposite scroll while keeping the scroll you started with… Everbody get up with teams! You will be spread apart around the fences. Whenever your jonin tells you to go, you will be let free into the forest of death! You have 4 days. Try not to get killed." Kageyama said, becoming more serious as he spoke.

A large group of Jonin appeared behind Kageyama, going up to each of the teams splitting them far apart so nobody could see what scrolls each team was getting.

In just the matter of minutes, the Jonin in charge of holding the teams got the signal, and released the Genin.

As soon as the gates open, Team 4 takes off, running through the forest. As they run, they keep an eye out for the other teams.

"Do we have a plan or are we just running aimlessly?" Kotori asked as they were running and jumping through the trees.

"We need to find a safe place to hideout and think of a plan." Kinuta responded to Kotori.

Kotori nodded. "Alright, captain."

The comment made Kinuta smirk. Kotori always took shots at him for trying to be a leader. Not in a rude or harmful way. In a humorous way. Soon they stop in a clearing where they agreed they would start planning their attacks.

"So, anybody got any ideas? And I will not agree to going head first into a battle. An actual strategy." Tadashi said.

"How about we look for an enemy team and then track them until their vulnerable then, when they're weak, we strike and take their scroll!" Kinuta said, looking to Kotori and waiting for her input.

"I'm okay with that. As long as we get to fight today. Or tonight. Just soon." Kotori responded.

"Alright, I hope we can get this over with soon." Kinuta said, walking off quietly to find another team.

"Eh, I can go forever." Kotori chuckled. "The only bad thing about this exam is the forest itself." She continued.

"You scared of the forest, huh?" Kinuta jeered at his red haired teammate.

"I am not!" She fired back, turning away from kinuta and tadashi with her arms crossed in front of her.

"I was joking!" Kinuta said, chuckling and putting his hand on her shoulder.

Kotori spun around and grinned. "I know."

Tadashi snickered at the two of them. "Alright you two let's get moving. Don't want to be the ones attacked first." He said.

They continued their search for another team well into the night without finding a single enemy. Earning some complaints from a certain Uzumaki.

"I'm bored," Kotori groaned. "I wanna fight something. Anybody for all I care." She said.

"Kotori, it's been 4, maybe 5 hours. Let's not rush this along too much," Kinuta attempted to calm the red haired Genin, chuckling. "Besides, we have 4 days to complete this, let's just wait until the other teams fall asleep."

Tadashi had an idea, "Maybe we should sleep for a few hours, let the other teams fall asleep, and when we attack they'll be off guard and we'll be energized!"

Kinuta thought for a second, "That seems like a great idea, but we need to keep guard…" Kinuta looked up at the sky, "Telling from where the moon is right now it's just after midnight, so we should rest for three hours, taking Turns being on lookout every means each of us will get two hours of sleep." He proposed.

"That sounds like a fantastic plan, Kinuta!" Tadashi said. "Who wants to take guard first?"

"I will, if you guys want." Kinuta said, shrugging.

"You should take last, because you're the strongest of us three so you need to be awake when we head out." Tadashi explained.

"Then why did you ask us if it was just going to end up between you and Kotori?" Kinuta asked, rolling his eyes.

Tadashi just shrugged him off and faced Kotori, "Do you wanna take first guard or do you want me to?" He asked her.

"I'll guard first." Kotori answered. "But we've gotta find a place to keep us hidden. Some place that's not in the open like we are now."

"Right." Harmonized Kinuta and Tadashi. Team 4 kept walking through the forest until they got to a place where there was a lot of undergrowth to hide under.

"This should be good. It'll keep us hidden while protecting us from rain and cold." Kinuta says, laying down under the bushes and shrubs.

"I think I'm going to climb this tree." Says Tadashi, starting to climb.

"And Kotori you're taking watch correct?" Kinuta asked.

"Correct." Kotori replied, taking a seat in the wet grass and dirt. "Now go to sleep."

"Alright, wake Tadashi up in about an hour, and try to stay hidden unless directly attacked. Also, be careful ok?" Kinuta said.

"I don't even have the scroll, you do." Kotori said, tilting her head to the side in a confused manner.

"That's not what matters, I can't lose a teammate. Alright, goodnight." Kinuta said, turning into a puddle as a disguise and falling asleep.

Kotori simply nodded before looking up into the trees to see Tadashi had already fallen asleep as well.

Kotori remained silent throughout her shift on guard duty, occasionally going into a couple of deep thoughts about where she came from and how the current state of each of the villages were with each other.

Her shift passes slowly but she soon decides it's about time to get Tadashi for his shift. After taking another look to make sure it was clear, she got up to get Tadashi. Just as she was getting up she started to hear murmurs coming from somewhere. Kotori got ready for a battle, her hand already filled with Kunai. She looked up to were the noises are coming from and noticed Tadashi's arm twitching.

"Is he… talking in his sleep?" She whispered to herself. She began to climb the tree to Tadashi. When she got to him she shook his shoulder and whispered his name.

Tadashi jolted awake with a panicked look in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Kotori asked.

"I just had a bad dream." Tadashi replied. "The villages where at war and we had to fight in it and a lot of people were hurting and I was afraid of losing you guys and it was terrible." Tadashi rambled.

"It'll be okay," Kotori said reassuringly. "It was just a dream. Anyways, it's your turn to stand guard." She told him.

"Alright." Tadashi said, gaining back his composure and getting up to start his climb down.

Kotori jumped back down to the ground and regained her posture before finding a somewhat comfortable position before falling into a light sleep.

As Tadashi's shift went on, nothing seemed to happen. His uneventful hour went by slowly and it was time to wake up Kinuta. "Hey, it's your turn to take watch" Tadashi said, nudging Kinuta gently on the shoulder.

Kinuta woke up and got to his feet, "Alright, get some rest and be ready for our stealth attack." He said, patting Tadashi on the back. As Kinuta walked to a good lookout area he yawned. He kept walking, as he did he kicked something. He looked down to see Kotori looking up at him with big green eyes.

"Ow. Thanks." Kotori groaned, not too happy she had woken up due to a kick.

"Oh, uh, sorry I didn't see you there." Kinuta said scratching the back of his head. "Since you're up do you want to look out with me?"

Kotori nodded and got up to her feet. "Okay. I don't see why not." She replied.

Kinuta smiled and moved his brown hair out of his eyes. The two shinobi sat back to back, keeping watch. "How was your shift?" Kinuta asked, breaking the silence.

"Boring. The only interesting thing I saw was a frog." Kotori answered, picking at her thigh high socks.

Kinuta looked up at the moon. "Are you ready for a fight?" Kinuta asked.

Kotori was silent for a second before answering. "Yeah, though I know there are people here we don't stand a chance against and that scares me." She replied truthfully.

"It will be okay, we know our limits, if it's someone we can't take on we will move on instead and look for another opponent. I won't let someone hurt my team and escape without scars." Kinuta said, clenching his fists. "I'm ready to go early, if you're okay with it."

Kotori smiled slightly at Kinuta's words, knowing the truth behind them. "Yeah I'm okay with going early, but what about Tadashi?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll go wake him up, I'm sure he's ready for a fight, I could tell when he woke me up." Kinuta replied, getting up and walking towards Tadashi. When he arrived at his sleeping body he nudged him awake. "Hey, are you okay with going early?" He asked.

Tadashi slowly opened his eyes and yawned, sitting up. "Meh, sure. I'm in the mood for a fight." He answered. "Just not a deadly fight."

"We won't let it get deadly," Kinuta said reassuringly, helping Tadashi to his feet.

Tadashi grinned. "Good. I know we would all put up a good fight anyways." He chuckled. "Let's get outta here and find somebody."

The two male shinobi joined up with Kotori. "You guys ready?" Kinuta asked.

"Hell yeah!" Kotori said energetically with a smile. "Let's show these fellow ninja what we're made of!"

"Alright, let's head out and get this over with." Kinuta said, starting to quietly go in a random direction. "Remember, we're trying to be stealthy." He whispered.

Tadashi nodded and Kotori and him followed Kinuta. "My specialty." Kotori said, making it to where her chakra was almost undetectable.

After awhile of creeping around the forest, at about 4 am, team four stumbled upon a sleeping team. They seem to be from the sand village, with a familiar face in the three of them.

Kotori furrowed her eyebrows, upset that they found the three sand ninja out of everybody else. "Seriously?" She whispered under her breath, mentally smacking herself in the face.

Kinuta looked to Tadashi and then to Kotori, nodding, waiting for a response.

Kotori took a second to respond, but she eventually looked over at Kinuta and Tadashi giving them the okay. Kotori remembered what she had told Kinuta earlier at the ramen bar and only kept that in mind.

"Ok, we need a plan, I'll take the blindfolded guy, and you two can decide on who you want." Kinuta said, determined.

"I'll take the other guy with blonde hair." Tadashi continued.

"Good. I'll take the girl." Kotori added.

"Alright, sneak up on your targets, try and take them out as quickly as possible."

"Wait..! Are we starting with a simple taijutsu and hoping it works or going full out?" Tadashi asked, raising a single eyebrow.

"Do whatever it takes to get the job done." Kinuta replies.

"Got it." Tadashi said, getting a single kunai out from his ninja tool pouch. "Hey, good luck everybody." He said quickly before silently getting closer.

Kinuta crouched, getting his hands ready for a quick Liquid Bullet Justu. He moved ever closer to his target, before looking back at Kotori.

Kotori kept a distance from Tadashi and Kinuta, attaching a paper bomb to the end of one of her kunai, getting ready to throw it in the sand villagers direction.

Seeing that his team members were in their position, Kinuta put up his hand, signaling a countdown from three.

As Kinuta put down his last finger, and Kotori threw her explosive Kunai, she realized something. The sand villagers weren't giving off chakra. "Clones!" She alerted her teammates all too late as the clones disappeared into thin air. Just then she felt a heavy weight crash down on top of her, pushing her to the ground. She turned around, flipping her opponent off on her and getting to her feet.

As this happened Tadashi was also ambushed, but was quick enough to dodge the attack and swing with his kunai. His swing grazed his opponent right above the eyebrow, causing blood to drip into his eye. The blonde sand villager seemed unfazed by this and quickly kicked the kunai out of Tadashi's hand, hitting his hand in the process. After this they both jump back and stare off, with one direct hit from each side.

Kinuta looked around, looking for his target but having no luck. "Were is this bastard?" He said under his voice before looking over to see Kotori and her enemy on their feet.

Kotori quickly jumped back, staring off with the female sand ninja. Both of them locked onto the other watching every single movement.

"It's so nice of you and your team to stop by!" The female sand ninja said, laughing. "You guys weren't too quiet about your approach. I thought you leaf ninja were something special~!" She cheerfully spoke, raising a single finger to her lips. "This is going to be a beautiful fight." She growled.

"We'll see about that!" Kotori said, raising her voice a bit. This girl gave her a bad feeling.

Kotori stitched her eyebrows together, throwing hand signs together, causing two more of her to appear. Shadow clones.

"Nice trick~!" The other ninja spoke, jumping up into the air weaving hand signs. "Wind Style: Wind Slash!"

Kotori couldn't help but smirk. A wind style user was a rarity, but not a challenge for her. Kotori, being a fire style user, could over power a wind jutsu. Kotori's two clones took the hit for her, while she put new hand signs together as a counter attack. "Fire style: Phoenix flower jutsu!" She yelled, breathing out multiple balls of flames.

Tadashi heard his teammate call out her fire Justu and smirked, "You teammate is in quite deep trouble." He taunted, staring down his opponent.

This statement made the sand ninja across from him smirk. "Less talk, more fight." He said as he took off forward, slinging a fury of punches and kicks at Tadashi, most of which were blocked. With one last hit the sand ninja layer off for a split second, just enough for Tadashi. Tadashi started his offensive, throwing punches and kicks at his opponent, hitting his body multiple times but getting blocked for most of his hits. Tadashi takes one last swing, a force palm, hitting his opponent directly in the mouth. This causes blood to fill his opponent's mouth. The sand villager chuckled, wiping blood from his chin. Tadashi doesn't notice because he peeks at the fight happening behind his enemy's back.

The sand female landed with a hard thud on her back, before breaking out into a laugh. Kotori tilted her head in confusion. "Why the hell are you laughing?" Kotori asked, knowing her jutsu had to of hit her-even the slightest bit.

"Because! That tickled! You think you're going to beat me with petty fire style!" She replied in continuous laughter, hoping back to her feet without a single scratch on her.

Kotori stood still in shock, trying to put the pieces together. "How is that even possible?!" Kotori exclaimed. She needed to learn more about this ninjas style before throwing another chakra seal at her.

"Ah, I can't tell you! You'll just have to find out for yourself!" The other ninja replied, charging in Kotori's direction.

Kotori quickly got in a defensive stance with a kunai in hand, both of their kunai blocking each other's.

Kotori quickly used this moment to hit the opposite ninja with her knee in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her opponent.

While the sand ninja stumbled backwards, kotori made a couple more clones of herself and charged, all throwing strong punches and kicks.

Tadashi, who was looking on, smirked as his teammate kept her momentum. Although his opponent took this opportunity to charge at Tadashi. The sand shinobi directed a kick to Tadashi's jaw, connecting. This put Tadashi on his back, defenseless. The sand ninja got on top of Tadashi and started to throw punch after punch to Tadashi's face, connecting with most of them. Tadashi tried to block, but only blocked a few hits. The hits were coming so fast. Tadashi was bleeding profusely from the mouth now and had to do something quickly or else he would definitely lose the fight.

Kotori's kicks and punches collided with what she thought to be the real ninja she was facing. Without realizing, all of Kotori's clones collided into each other knocking all of them down, including the real Kotori.

Kotori fell onto her back and groaned quietly, sitting up slightly.

Kotori suddenly heard that creepy laughter once more, sending chills down her spine. "Boo." The ninja whispered into Kotori's ear, quickly and forcefully grabbed a handful of Kotori's red locks and pulls her head back before forcefully slamming it back into the ground.

Tadashi hears a scream. Only one that could come from an Uzumaki. At this moment he wraps his legs around his opponent's and flips him over. Tadashi then pushes up off of the sand villagers chest and gets to his feet. The sand shinobi gets up and charges at the, seemingly, dazed Tadashi. Just as he gets into striking distance Tadashi looks up and flashes some hand signs.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" He yells, building a wall of mud in between him and his opponent. He also built four more behind his opponent. The sand villager stood there, confused at what just happened. Tadashi backs up and starts charging at the wall, before punching through it, yelling. He connects with the sand ninja, sending him and himself through all four mud walls. After the dust has cleared the sand shinobi does not get up. Tadashi is victorious. He does not have time to celebrate before exhaustion takes over him and he collapses. He takes one last glance to his left and sees Kotori with her face in the dirt.

At this point Kotori was just a toy for the sand ninja as she was messing up Kotori's face. The sand ninja found so much enjoyment in the pain and suffering of Kotori that she didn't stop subjecting her opponent to a face full of dirt until she was silent. "Awww, quiet already?" She pouted with a frown, sitting on top of Kotori waiting for a response. "I hate people like you, yknow? Acting tough in the beginning only to get your ass kicked into next week. I wish you put up an actual challenge." The sand ninja complained.

Kotori wasn't out of it yet, and could hear everything the girl was saying. She desperately wanted to speak up and continue fighting, but didn't have the motivation to do so. She took everything to heart, making her accept defeat.

"Kotori! What are you doing? Get up! Don't give up!" Kinuta yelled, keeping an eye out for his target.

Kotori was awoken from her thoughts and brought back into reality with Kinuta's words. Tadashi had taken down his target, and Kotori didn't want to drag down the team.

With a sudden boost of energy, Kotori started an attempt to push the sand ninja off of her.

"Oohh yes! She's moving!" The sand ninja cheerfully spoke, hopping off of Kotori, not wanted their fight to end so soon anyways.

The sand ninja hopped backwards, giving kotori room to breath and collect herself for a few seconds before standing back up on her feet. She wiped the blood and dirt off of her face before standing in and offensive position. Drawing three shuriken from her pouch, she darted them in the enemy's direction, cloning them in mid air before darting forward. With the large amount of chakra she still possessed, she weaved hand signs together. "Fire Style: Exploding Flame Bomb!" She said.

With all of these things coming towards the sand ninja at once, she had nowhere to hide. Kotori smirked, feeling like she had this match in the bag.

Out of thin air, a mud wall appeared blocking all of Kotori's attacks from hitting her opponent.

Before Kotori even had time to react, the sand ninja jumped upwards. "Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!" She shouted, hitting Kotori on the spot. Though it wasn't too strong, it managed to knock Kotori back to the ground and pierce her skin.

Kotori laid on the ground, collecting her breath. Just as she was about to get back up, she was brought back down again, this time in even more pain than before. Her arm was being forced behind her back. It was being pushed upwards causing searing pain through her arm and shoulder. If she were to move, her shoulder would shatter and her arm would break. Her enemy pushed up more, forcing a scream of pain out of Kotori.

Kinuta, hearing his teammate scream in terror, charged at the sand shinobi. "Get off of her, you bastard!" He yelled, throwing a punch at his teammate's opponent. From out of nowhere, a body was in front of Kinuta and his fist was in someone's hand. There Kinuta stood, staring right at a blindfolded face. Kinuta quickly got away and backed up, staring down his target, Nori. "There you are. It's about time you showed up." Kinuta said, taunting the ninja.

Nori smirked. "I have been here the entire time." He chuckled. "You've just been too oblivious." He continued.

"What?" Kinuta questioned through gritted teeth. "I've been watching for you this whole time. How could I have missed you?"

"Perhaps I am just too fast for you? Or you have been paying too much attention to your pretty redheads fight." He spoke calmly. "I'll have you know she would have destroyed Sora if I hadn't have blocked and covered her attacks."

Kinuta growled, ready to lung at Nori with a kunai. "I knew there was something up. Now, what else do you have up your sleeve? I don't believe for one second that you're blind."

"Tsk tsk. Good thinking! I have tons more tricks up my sleeve." Nori said, raising his hands and removing the wrap off of his eyes to reveal full black eyes with a white arrow design in the middle, changing directions as each couple seconds went by.


	4. Chunin Exams! Exam 2: Kinuta vs Nori

Kinuta growled, ready to lunge at Nori with a kunai. "I knew there was something up. Now, what else do you have up your sleeve? I don't believe for one second that you're blind."

"Tsk tsk. Good thinking! I have tons more tricks up my sleeve." Nori said, raising his hands and removing the wrap off of his eyes to reveal full black eyes with a white arrow design in the middle, changing directions as each couple seconds went by. Nori then dashes for Kinuta, throwing punches and kicks, all being either blocked or dodged. This surprised Nori, until he saw Kinuta was looking at his midsection and not his eyes.

"You really thought I would fall for your Genjutsu." Kinuta said smugly. "I was guessing that's what you had under your blindfold." Kinuta finished, lunging at Nori with his kunai aimed at his chest. In a flash, Nori disappeared, causing Kinuta to go flying. Kinuta landed near a tree. "Damnit…" He cursed under his breath. Suddenly, Nori appeared in front of him, grabbing his chin and forcing his gaze into his eyes. Nothing seemed to happen. The arrow just kept changing directions. Kinuta looked around, nothing different. "What..?" He questioned. Just then Nori sent a hard punch to Kinuta's jaw, so powerful it sent him flying a few feet. His vision darkened. He felt pressure on his jaw, as if someone was holding him down. "If I can't have her…" a voice growled. "...No one can."

Kotori was on the ground, her face still in the dirt. She tried all her hardest to look up. Her captor lifted her head up by her red locks. She could see Kinuta on the ground, gaze turned towards her and her opponent. He looked terrified. More horrified than she could ever imagine Kinuta being. A gut wrenching scream came from his open mouth. He struggled to get to his feet, but couldn't. It was as if someone was holding him down, but there was no one or nothing there. "Kinuta!" She yelled. "Get up!" Nothing changed. He was still screaming and struggling under his invisible captor. She looked to Nori, who was smirking. This made Kotori think. She tried to sense Nori and Kinutas chakra. Then it hit her. "Kinuta! It's not real! Whatever you see is just a genjutsu!" She yelled, hoping to alert her teammate.

Nori chuckled. "He can't hear you, stop wasting your breath."

Kotori ignored him and kept yelling, hoping to get through. Soon, the screaming stopped. "Kinuta..?" Kotori questioned quietly.

Nori looked confused, but lunged at Kinuta nevertheless. He hit Kinuta with a downward kick to his chest, cracking the ground around them.

"Kinuta!" Kotori screamed, struggling to get out of the grasp of the sand shinobi holding her down.

The dust lifted to show Nori standing wear he kicked, looking down at his target, which had turned into a puddle of water. Nori, looking sincerely angry, looks around for his target, not finding him. Looking up higher, Nori found his opponent crouching in a tree. Nori could also see a large, dark cloud gathering over the area where they were fighting. Kinuta's face was unable to be seen due to the shadow the trees and clouds where projecting onto him.

Kinuta places both hands on the branch he was crouching on. "Water Style: Storm Upheaval!" He yelled, sending the cloud of water onto Nori creating a large pool of water that Kinuta could use to his disposal. Throwing hand signs together he shouted "Water Style: Raging Waves!" This sends multiple waves of water at Nori, further drowning him. These waves also his Kotori and Emi, forcing Emi to release Kotori. Kinuta jumped down from his branch, landing softly on the water, using chakra to walk on water. He walked up to where Nori was supposed to be underwater, sparks seeming to fly off of his body every few seconds. Suddenly, a wall of mud shoots up out of the water, sending Kinuta flying into the air. Kinuta landed hard in the water. He swims up to the surface, looking up at the pillar of mud that was formed for Nori to stand on. "Earth Style, huh?" Kinuta said, knowing water style was weak against earth. Kinuta smirked and jumped up out of the water and threw hand signs together. "Water Style: Liquid Bullet!" Kinuta yelled, sending a stream of water towards Nori. The jutsu hits and a poof of smoke emits from its point of contact. A clone. "Bastard!" Kinuta whispers under his breath. Suddenly the pillar of mud explodes into a ball of fire as Kinuta can see the sand ninja, Emi, flying through it.

When the smoke clears Kotori is visible, and throws a quick smirk at Kinuta before going past him to get Emi. Kinuta smiled until he felt a large pain and force on the back of his head. Nori had punched him and sent him face first into the water. The water seemed to be much shallower than it once was. "Was his earth style absorbing the water?" Kinuta thought. He stood up in the now shallow water.

"She's mine…" Kinuta heard Nori whisper into his ear from behind him. Kinuta turned around yelling "Liquid Bullet!" Directly hitting another clone.

"You're the only one in my way of getting her…" Another whisper from behind. Another liquid bullet. Another clone.

"Coward! Come out and fight me!" Kinuta yelled, the sparks on his shoulders returning.

Nori suddenly appeared in front of him, seeming to come from the ground that had recently absorbed all of the water. "...And now you're going to disappear!" He said, throwing a punch towards Kinuta neck.

Kinuta ducked and dodged the punch. "Hand of Waves!" He shouted, blasting Noris midsection with a powerful blast of water. The jutsu sent Nori flying backwards a few feet, just in range for Kinuta to try something he's been practicing. With the sparks on his shoulders increasing in frequency. Summoning the very last bit of chakra he could muster, he was ready to end this battle.

"Water-Lightning Style: Arced Liquid Bullet!" He yelled, sending an electrified steam of water towards Nori. Struggling to wait until it hits his target, Kinuta watches as Emi jumps in front of the attack, blocking it. The hit sends Emi flying back into Nori, sending them both flying backwards. "What..? No…" Kinuta croaked as his vision darkened and he collapsed due to having a lack of chakra. From the darkness, Kinuta feels a warmth flowing through his body. He felt a jolt of energy flow through him. Not a lot, but just enough. He was able to open his eyes and see familiar, green eyes looking into his, filled with worry. He felt another jolt of energy run through him. He could now look down and see that his teammate had been using a simple healing jutsu. Another jolt of energy. Kinuta sat up, focusing his brown eyes on Kotori. "Thanks… I really needed that." Kinuta thanked his teammate.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't overwork yourself so much. I might not be there to save you next time." Kotori said, poking fun at her teammate.

Kinuta chuckled and looked towards Nori, who was getting up and checking on Emi.

Both Kinuta and Kotori stand up, facing towards Nori. They look each other in the eyes one last time before going into the fight. Kotori kicks off the fight by throwing a paper bomb kunai. The kunai explodes near Nori, allowing Kotori to get in close for some strong Taijutsu. Kinuta stays back and waits for an opening, staring directly at his opponent. This turned out to be a big mistake when Kinuta locked eyes with Nori.

Kotori kept throwing punches and kicks at Nori, some hitting, some getting blocked. As she was using her Taijutsu, she heard a familiar scream. Kinuta. Looking back she could see him, horrified like before.

Kotori knew she had to keep her head in the game, so she remained focused on attacking Nori. "Hang in a little longer, Kinuta." She thought to herself, drawing her final kunai and stabbing him deeply in the thigh.

A blood curling scream erupted from Nori, who drops to one knee. This is a signal to Kotori to go help Kinuta.

Kotori dashed back in the direction of Kinuta, knowing he had fallen back under Nori's genjutsu. "Release!"

Kinuta seemed to be out of whatever sick fantasy he was in and looked around, clearly afraid.

Kotori grabbed him on his shoulders. "It's okay. I'm okay. Everything is okay. Life is wonderful. Everybody's happy and getting along." Kotori said sternly.

Meanwhile, Nori had pulled the kunai out of his thigh. He smiled as the kunai dripped of his blood. "Time to finally connect us… by blood!" He said, throwing the kunai at Kotori. The bloody kunai had stabbed Kotori in the back of her right shoulder. This earned a scream from Kotori and a scowl from Kinuta. Kinuta looked at the kunai sticking out of his teammates back. Checking his pouch for a kunai to return he realized they were washed away in the water from earlier. In reaction to this, Kinuta removed the kunai from Kotori shoulder, earning a small scream from her. Kinuta cringed at the sound before running head on at Nori, with all intentions of returning the favor. "You bastard!" Kinuta screamed, lunging at Nori.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Nori yells, summoning a mud wall to block the attack. The wall was hit and a splash of water came from over the top. Nori then could feel the warm blood from the kunai on his neck and his arm being forced behind his back.

"Surrender the scroll… and you live." Kinuta growled and Nori took the scroll out from under his vest. "Also… get in line, Hakuryū." Kinuta said, taking the scroll from his hand and stabbing Nori in the other thigh.

As Kinuta walks away from Nori, Kotori walks up to him and asks "What did you see in that genjutsu?"

Kinuta was silent for awhile. "That's for later, right now we need to get Tadashi and go to the Tower."

From there Team 4 makes there way to the tower successfully without any interruptions, to their surprise. Once they get there they hand in their scrolls. One heaven, one earth, officially granting them a passing grade in the second Chunin Exams. After that they wait on the other passing teams to arrive. In the end, the team that team 4 had nearly lost to, passed.

"How did they do that? We took their scroll!" Tadashi said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they got 2 scrolls before their 4 days were up. Not at all." Kinuta said, patching up Kotoris gash made from the kunai that was thrown by Nori.

"Yeah, they were super strong, I hope I don't face them at the next exam." Kotori said.

"Right, were not chunin just yet, just one more part to go." Said Kinuta, finishing up on Kotoris shoulder


End file.
